Are They Actually Playing the Cello in The Perfection?
Whoa — Allison Williams and Logan Browning Actually Learned to Play the Cello For The Perfection
Now that Richard Shepard's batsh*t crazy new horror film, The Perfection, is streaming on Netflix, you might have a few questions. Like, first and foremost: what the actual f*ck?! (At least that was my reaction after watching.) And perhaps second: have Allison Williams and Logan Browning secretly been wildly talented cellists all this time? Because the scenes of their musical performances are pretty convincing, to say the least.
Although you likely won't see either of the film's stars challenging Yo-Yo Ma to a riff-off anytime soon, the pair actually did learn how to play the cello for their roles. If you haven't seen the film, Williams plays Charlotte, a troubled musical prodigy who seeks out Elizabeth (Browning), the star cellist of the music conservatory she once attended years earlier. Their encounter sends both musicians down a deeply twisted path of love, violence, and revenge, climaxing with a truly insane ending. But back to the cellos!
While speaking to Browning about her role in the film, she confirmed that she and her costar indeed learned how to play the instrument in record time before they began filming.
"I'd never touched that instrument in my life, and I was basically learning at the rate of a 4-year-old. Within less than two months, I was able to do all the correct hand motions for the pieces. There was this incredibly intricate and complicated piece that we were having to play. That was definitely one of the surprising challenges."
According to Browning, there were doubles on hand for certain shots, but Shepard wanted their scenes to feel as authentic as possible. So, in other words, there weren't any scenes of Browning and Williams's heads swapped onto different, more musically inclined bodies with CGI.
"There definitely were some double's hands, and they were so fantastic, but it was mostly us," she said. "Richard really wanted us to learn the pieces so that we really knew what we were doing and that we sounded amazing."
If you're a horror fan and you haven't had the pleasure of watching The Perfection yet, make sure you add it to your queue tonight — it's the craziest movie you'll see all year, trust me.
